Английский для математиков = English for Mathematicians

Министерство науки и высшего образования Российской Федерации 

Сибирский федеральный университет 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Т. Н. Свиридова, М. Г. Шелепова 

 
 
 
 

АНГЛИЙСКИЙ ДЛЯ МАТЕМАТИКОВ 

–––––––––––––––– 

ENGLISH FOR MATHEMATICIANS 

 
 
 

Учебное пособие 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

Красноярск 

СФУ 
2023 

УДК 811.111(07) 
ББК 81.432.1я73 

С247 
 
 
Р е ц е н з е н т ы: 
Р. В. Сорокин, кандидат физико-математических наук, доцент кафед-

ры математического анализа и дифференциальных уравнений, заместитель 
директора Института математики и фундаментальной информатики Сибирского 
федерального университета;  

М. В. Савельева, заведующая кафедрой технического иностранного 

языка Сибирского государственного университета науки и технологий 
имени академика М. Ф. Решетнева 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Свиридова, Т. Н. 

С247 
 
Английский для математиков = English for Mathematicians : 

учеб. пособие / Т. Н. Свиридова, М. Г. Шелепова. – Красноярск : 
Сиб. федер. ун-т, 2023. – 184 с. 

 
 
ISBN 978-5-7638-4670-6 
 
 
 
 
Представлен материал, необходимый для совершенствования умений 

профессионально ориентированного чтения и навыков устной и письменной 
речи. Приведены тексты аутентичного характера. Предложена серия упражнений, 
способствующих расширению и систематизации словарного запаса, 
развитию разговорных навыков и умений, закреплению грамматического 
материала.  

Предназначено для студентов высших учебных заведений, обучающихся 

по направлениям подготовки 01.03.01 «Математика», 01.03.02 «Прикладная 
математика и информатика», 02.03.01 «Математика и компьютерные науки». 

 
 

Электронный вариант издания см.:

http://catalog.sfu-kras.ru

УДК 811.111(07)
ББК 81.432.1я73

 
 

ISBN 978-5-7638-4670-6 
© Сибирский федеральный университет, 2023 

CONTENTS 

ВВЕДЕНИЕ .......................................................................................................................................... 4 

TO THE STUDENT ............................................................................................................................. 5 

UNIT 1. MATHEMATICIANS ........................................................................................................... 6 

UNIT 2. DISCOVERY IN MATHEMATICS .................................................................................. 21 

UNIT 3. MYTHS IN MATHEMATICS ........................................................................................... 37 

UNIT 4. UNSOLVED PROBLEMS ................................................................................................. 53 

UNIT 5. MATHEMATICS  IS THE QUEEN OF SCIENCES ....................................................... 71 

UNIT 6. COMPUTERS ..................................................................................................................... 89 

UNIT 7. PROGRAMMING ............................................................................................................ 109 

UNIT 8. MY FUTURE PROFESSION .......................................................................................... 129 

REVISE AND CHECK ..................................................................................................................... 146 

APPENDIX 1 ................................................................................................................................... 150 

APPENDIX 2 ................................................................................................................................... 159 

APPENDIX 3 ................................................................................................................................... 166 

APPENDIX 4 ................................................................................................................................... 170 

APPENDIX 5 ................................................................................................................................... 173 

REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................. 182 

 

Введение 

Настоящее пособие предназначено для студентов высших учебных 

заведений, обучающихся по направлениям подготовки 01.03.01 «Математика», 
01.03.02 «Прикладная математика и информатика» и 02.03.01 «Математика 
и компьютерные науки». 

Объем издания соответствует учебным часам, предусмотренным 

для изучения дисциплины «Профессиональный иностранный язык». 

Основная цель учебного пособия – совершенствование умений про-

фессионально ориентированного чтения и перевода современной научной 
литературы, а также развитие навыков устной и письменной речи на основе 
изученных текстов. Следует подчеркнуть, что конкретные задачи, решаемые 
при работе с пособием, определяются конечными целями обучения, 
предусматривающими свободное чтение литературы по специальности, 
умение вести беседу, дискуссию, выступать с сообщениями, докладами, 
презентациями и т. п. Содержательность текстов, включенных в пособие, 
поможет сочетать овладение специальной лексикой с приобретением полезной 
информации. 

В пособии рассмотрены основные темы дисциплины. Издание состо-

ит из восьми разделов, каждый из которых предусматривает работу над 
расширением потенциального словаря, развитием навыков чтения, говорения 
и письма. Кроме того, в работе приведены пять приложений, представляющих 
собой краткий грамматический справочник, ответы на тесты, 
предложенные в пособии, список сокращений латинского происхождения, 
словарь специальных терминов. 

Упражнения в каждом разделе отличаются по своему содержанию, 

целевой направленности и форме выполнения. Система речевых упражнений 
построена в соответствии с методикой проблемного обучения: проблемный 
вопрос, проблемное высказывание, дискуссия по проблеме. Равномерное 
чередование различных видов упражнений и использование 
в них различных моделей помогает более эффективной работе студентов. 

TO THE STUDENT 

We have written this book to give you a chance to: 

  master communicative competence; 
  improve your confidence and ability to speak and understand English; 
  stimulate your imagination; 
  enrich your vocabulary; 
  improve your language skills: speaking, reading and writing; 
  activate your personal opinion; 
  prepare for the examination; 

This book is designed so that it can be used sequentially from Unit 1 to 8. 
However, each Unit stands on its own, therefore you can use it selectively. 
Each Unit focuses on the development of the basic skills so it possesses 

a variety of exercises in reading, speaking, writing. Besides each Unit touches 
upon a different topic and we hope each of them will interest you. 

The material is taken from the Internet, math textbooks, authentic 

sources – thus they are related to your own experience. 

To get the most out of this book, you have to think. Don’t be a passive 

learner. With your group-mates work out the solutions to different activities. 

Good luck and enjoy using this book! 

Authors 

UNIT 1 

MATHEMATICIANS 

BEFORE YOU READ 

1. Discuss these questions with your partner. 

 Mathematicians – what are they?  
 What motives and directs the activities of mathematicians? 
 Do you think it is difficult to be a mathematician? 
 What mathematicians to your mind, are the most distinguished and why? 

 

2. Do you know these mathematicians? Put them in order of the period they 
lived. Begin with the earliest one. 

Leibniz
Euler

Euclid
Riemann

Turing
Gauss

Descartes
Newton

Kolmogorov
Lagrange

 
3. Answer the questions. Choose from the following: 

Archimedes, Evariste Galois, Pythagoras, Leonhard Euler, Euclid, Charles 
Babbage, Pierre de Fermat, Diophantus 

1. Which mathematician proved the famous formula eiπ + 1 = 0? 
2. Who is known as the Father of Computing for his work on the 

Difference engine? 

3. Which mathematician, one of the first to describe the situations under 

which the solution to an equation can be written down exactly, was 
killed in a duel at the tender age of 20? 

4. This great Greek mathematician from 287–212 B.C. is very famous for 

his attempts at the measurement of the circle. 

5. A famous textbook, “The Elements”, was still used as recently as the 

twentieth century. Who was the author of this text? 

6. Which mathematician had worked with number theory and claimed to 

have found that xn + yn = zn has no positive integer solutions if n is 
greater than 2? 

7. What mathematician is known as the Father of Algebra? 
8. Described as the first pure mathematician, this Greek taught us that the 

square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the 
squares of the other two sides. 

 
4. Answer the questions. 

1. Who was Fermat? 
2. What does Fermat’s last theorem state? 

3. Did Fermat really prove his theorem? 
4. When was Fermat’s last theorem proved? 
5. Was Fermat a genius? 

READING 

5. Read the text. 

 
 

The six sentences below have been removed. Decide where they 
should go. 

 xn + yn = zn  

(from https://www.famousscientists.org/pierre-de-fermat/)  

 

6. Complete the given sentences using the information from the text. 

1. Pierre de Fermat was one of … . 
2. Pierre’s father was … . 
3. He was fluent in … . 
4. When he was 20 … . 
5. Fermat was passionate about … . 
6. Fermat’s most famous work … . 
7. Fermat’s Last Theorem claims that … . 
8. The great majority of mathematicians … . 
9. Pierre de Fermat died … . 

7. Find in the text English equivalents to the following Russian ones: 

путеводный свет, младенчество, способность к языкам, адвокат, большое 
наследство, сходить с ума, дворянин, совершеннолетие, затишье, чума, 
быть осведомленным, сопротивляться всем нападкам, дразнить ложными 
надеждами, большинство. 
 
8. Divide the text into logical units. Suggest titles for each unit. Find the 
sentences expressing the main ideas of each logical unit in the text. Combine 
the topic sentences using the following connectives. 

Because, in case of, besides, still, nevertheless, hence, accordingly, therefore, as 
well as, consequently, either … or. 
 
9. Do the Quiz. 

Fermat’s Last Theorem Quiz 

Question 1. Fermat's last theorem states that there is no solution for the equation 
xn + yn = zn, where n is any integer greater than 2. Why was this theorem called 
the LAST theorem? 

a) Because this theorem is the last one that Fermat came up with before he 

died. 

b) Because this theorem appears on the last page of his book. 
c) Because this theorem was the last of Fermat's theorems to be proved or 

disproved. 

d) Because this theorem was published in a journal called “Last”. 

Question 2. Fermat wrote in “Arithmetica”, “It is impossible to separate a cube 
into two cubes, or a fourth power into two fourth powers, or in general, any 
power higher than the second into two like power. I have a truly marvelous 
proof of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain”. However, 
this sentence was not written in the English language originally. Which language 
did this sentence first appear in? 

a) Greek 
b) Latin 
c) Spanish 
d) Italian 

Question 3. It is interesting to find out that Pierre de Fermat was only an 
amateur mathematician. What was his main profession? 

a) Lawyer 
b) Writer 
c) Doctor 
d) Teacher 

Question 4. For the equation xn + yn = zn, Euler proved that for the case where 
n = 3, there were no integer solutions. Fermat himself provided the proof for 
a case where n =? 

a) 7 
b) 5 
c) 4 
d) 6 

Question 5. We know that there are infinitely many solutions to the equation 
x2 + y2 = z2, when x, y and z are positive integers. What are these solutions 
called? 

a) The Fermat Triples 
b) The Gauss Triples 
c) The Lagrange Triples 
d) The Pythagorean Triples 

Question 6. Which female mathematician, who took on a man's pseudonym, 
namely Monsieur Le Blanc, also attempted to prove Fermat's last theorem? 

a) Maria Agnesi 
b) Sofia Kovalevskaya 
c) Sophie Germain 
d) Eva Tardos 

Question 7. By 1993, Fermat's last theorem was proved to be valid for all n 
from 3 to 4,000,000 by computers. Eventually, Fermat's last theorem was proven 
in the year 1995 by a mathematician. Who is he/she? 

a) Andrew Wiles 
b) Guy Terjanian